What is the best time of day to exercise, when doing BioTrust's One Day Diet?

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Welcome to the BioTrust Community! Congratulations on your recent BioTrust order and on getting started with the One Day Diet. As you'll see here in the Forums, there are many, many folks following this plan with great success. We're sure that you'll be very pleased with it and the results you achieve as well!

As far as your question, most would contend that the best time to exercise is: 1. when you have time; and 2. when you can put forth your best effort. In most people's worlds, there are not a whole lot of options as far as when to work out. So, if you only have time in the morning before work, at lunch, or at the end of the day, the important point is to exercise when you can.

The second end of the equation is that if you do have a little flexibility in your schedule, then exercising when you feel like you are the most alert and have the most energy would be optimal. As we discuss in this article, when we focus on certain types of exercise, we can optimize fat loss and boost the metabolism for hours after exercise.

One of the keys to the latter is being able to put forth a significant amount of effort. Some folks just cannot fathom the idea of early morning workouts. On the contrary, some people are so zapped after a long day of work that they just go through the motions. Thus, these two factors should be taken into consideration.

One of the concerns that some folks have with morning workouts while following the One Day Diet—or any form of IF for that matter—is what to do from a nutritional standpoint. Fortunately, we've outlined some options in the following thread:

That being said, it's my opinion that, to optimize fat loss, one should consider exercising at the end of the fasting period and following up the training session with his/her first meal of the day. There is some research to suggest that training in the fasted state improves glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity. Add to that the following nutrient timing rules from the Top 10 Carbs for a Flat Belly eBook:

Generally speaking, it is thought that insulin sensitivity and glucose tolerance are at their peak early in the day (i.e., breakfast). (Lee et al, 1992) More precisely, however, insulin sensitivity and glucose tolerance are highest at your first meal of the day (i.e., after a fast). (Verrillo et al, 1989) As a matter of fact, researchers in Denmark subjected participants to an intermittent fasting protocol where they fasted for 20 hours (instead of the traditional 8 – 12). These subjects experienced significantly improved insulin sensitivity and glucose uptake. (Halberg et al, 2005)

Carbohydrate timing rule #1: Your first meal of the day

Intense exercise essentially acts like an accelerated fast, and muscle contractions can dramatically increase insulin sensitivity by increasing glucose uptake independently of insulin. (Ivy, 1987) As a matter of fact, taking in carbs with protein post-exercise improves muscle recovery and energy replenishment all while potentially increasing fat loss. (Roy et al, 2002) It’s at this unique time when carbs are most likely to be stored in the muscles for energy, while fat is to be burned for fuel. (Bielinski et al, 1985)

Carbohydrate timing rule #2: After exercise

Thus, you could make a pretty compelling argument for exercising in the fasted state and then following that up with your largest, most-carbohydrate dense meal of the day for rapid fat loss. I believe that Martin Berkhan, founder of Leangains and IF expert extraordinaire, also recommends exercising in the fasted state. Here are some additional reasons is may be a potent stimulator of fat loss, according to Berkhan:

Another GIFT ("Gold In The Forums" per Drew) from Coach Tim! Thanks so much for this wonderful comprehensive answer, and thanks to Zoe for asking the question? This thread should be, as Coach Brian, would say, "bumped up"!

And Hi to Zoe. Welcome to the incredible BioTrust Community with the best Forums possible in any business on Earth; we are family here!

I'm sure you will love the One Day Diet, Zoe - I call it "The ODD Plan"; that name fits because it's truly odd that any diet could be so pleasant to be on, fit into any lifestyle, and transition so easily into a life time maintenance plan. We're all wishing you the best!